The company reported record shipments of processors, chipsets and motherboards, much of the demand coming from China, India and Russia. It is the company's biggest sales increase in more than three years.

'Our resolve to invest aggressively during the downturn is paying off with double-digit revenue growth and a doubling of profit compared with a year ago,' said chief executive Craig Barrett.

'We've always said IT spending in mature geographies would lag a recovery. We're seeing the effect of the strong economies and the quicker return to purchases. In the mature economies, it's a bit slower.'

But he said there had not been an 'overwhelming rush' to increase corporate IT spending.